Psychology, Department of
Date of this Version
September 2003
Abstract
The present study examined potential bi-directional associations between religiosity and first sexual intercourse. The sample, drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, included 303 teens (22% Hispanic, 35% Black, 43% White; 53% male) aged 15–16 in 1996 and 17–18 in 1998. All teens included in the sample were virgins at Time 1. In the longitudinal analyses, higher Time 1 religiosity (a composite of importance of religion and frequency of church attendance) was associated with a lower likelihood of first sexual intercourse between Time 1 and Time 2. However, transition to sexual activity between Time 1 and Time 2 was not significantly related to Time 2 religiosity. Thus, results do not support a bi-directional association; instead, it appears that teens with higher levels of religiosity tend to delay sexual involvement more than those with lower levels of religiosity.
Comments
Published in Journal of Adolescence 26 (2003), pp. 731–739. Copyright © 2003 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Used by permission. DOI:10.1016/j.adolescence.2003.09.003 Online @ http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jado